Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media report them inadequately. We blog here because our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, New York, Madrid, London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening and why. This ongoing war is killing us.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

23-Jul-14: Flying solo, yet again

Israelis, deeply engaged in fighting a no-holds-barred enemy that turns its own children into human shields for its armed men who take aim at our children, is waking up to an unwelcome new/old reality this morning:

Airlines in the United States and Europe suspended flights to and from Israel on Tuesday after a rocket fell about a mile from Ben-Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv. Major airlines canceled service — and in several cases, diverted planes in midflight — after the Federal Aviation Administration instructed American carriers not to fly to Israel for 24 hours because of the “potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza.” The disruption of air travel at the height of the summer tourism season highlighted the growing impact of the conflict in the Gaza Strip on the Israeli economy, even as the government sought to project an aura of business as usual. [New York Times, July 22, 2014]

Who is flying into Israel today? GLOBES, the Israeli business newspaper, says only the three Israeli airlines: El Al Israel Airlines, Arkia and Israir. It's worth keeping in mind for future reference.

Times of Israel's report points out the dichotomy of views behind the decision:

Israel called American carriers to assure them there was no security problem for take-offs and landings. US Secretary of State John Kerry told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the ban was ordered only to protect the safety and security of US citizens.

Safety and security are certainly vital concerns. Israelis share them, but wonder whether the US entirely understands that

most of the rockets fired at the Tel Aviv area by militants had been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome antimissile system. Ephraim Sneh, a retired general and deputy defense minister of Israel, was sharply critical of the decision to suspend flights. It was a dream of the militant Hamas leadership “to disconnect Israel from the outer world,” he told reporters... [New York Times, July 22, 2014]

As a Jerusalem Post article this morning points out ["El Al says there is 'no chance' it will cancel flights to, from Israel"], the major Israel-based carriers El Al and Arkia will keep serving travelers to and from Israel, of course. They did the same the last time a host of foreign operators suddenly cancelled all of their Israel-bound flights in 1991 as Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces made a previous missile-driven assault on Israel.

There's something sadly familiar to Israelis and their supporters at the sight of fair-weather friends crumbling on cue: that's you Delta, United, US Airways, Lufthansa, Germanwings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Air France among many others.

Yet another reminder, even in these times of a global village and universal brotherhood, of what Jewish experience has taught us [see "A nation that dwells alone"].

1 comment:

Anonymous
said...

To Israel i write with abundant love it is only in G-D that you are allowed to trust Not in an iron drone to protect your homes but rather in the prayer we pray each nightWhere G-D will protect us with all G-D’S might where a thousand will fall at our left indeedAnd a myriad at our right if only we heedto the Sinai miracle in which we believeWhy should we the worlds opinion behold we must adhere to Torah like we been toldWe are not weak or scared but very boldmay G-D please have mercy on every Jewish soul

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THIS ONGOING WAR is not part of the activity of the Malki Foundation which was founded by us, Frimet and Arnold Roth of Jerusalem, on September 9, 2001. But it is inspired by the same tragic circumstances. The Malki Foundation (also known by its Hebrew name: Keren Malki) is a memorial to the life of our daughter, Malki. She's in the photo below this paragraph. Malki was murdered at the age of 15 in a massacre in the centre of Jerusalem carried out by Hamas.

Beyond its function as a remembrance of a beautiful life, the foundation provides tangible, concrete, invaluable support daily to several thousand Israeli families from every part of the religious and socio-economic spectrum: Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Druze and others who care at home for a seriously disabled child.

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This Ongoing War: About this blog

Many people lack a factual understanding of events in our region because the media often report them inadequately. Our daughter Malki, murdered at the age of 15 in a restaurant massacre in Jerusalem, was a victim of jihadist hatred and barbarism. For jihadism and terrorism to end in Israel, in New York, in Madrid, in London and everywhere else, people first need to understand the scale on which it is happening. This ongoing war is killing us.